MovieChat Forums > Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) Discussion > Being 10 years old in 1985

Being 10 years old in 1985

posted 9 years ago by EliasExplorer
4 replies | jump to latest

I think that kids from every generation, be it the 50s,60s,70s,90s,or 00s, will have their own stories and feelings of what it was like to be 10 years old around a certain time... but I have to say that being 10 in 1985 was something very magical.

Let me start with the movies of that era. I am sure that most of us will agree that Steven Spielberg and the people around him (Chris Columbus, Joe Dante, George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis) had a huge influence on the movies that were made between 1977 and 1985.
I mean we were able to watch fantastic movies like Close Encounters, E.T., The Goonies, Explorers, Indiana Jones, the three Star Wars movies, Gremlins, Back to the Future, and so much more in the mid-eighties.
Then there was also The Neverending Story, Flight of the Navigator, Young Sherlock Holmes,...the list goes on and on.

I remember how exciting it was to catch a glimpse of the lobby cards in the theatre, the anticipation of seeing the movie with my parents or older nephews, ...
Coming home afterwards and (there was no Internet yet) reliving the movie in your fantasy by looking at a few pictures in a magazine (if you were lucky to catch one).
I have very vivid memories of seeing Gremlins, The Goonies and Explorers in the cinema and being absolutely enchanted by these experiences...

I also remember walking in toystores or department stores and looking at the wonderful movie toys (I am referring mostly to the Kenner Star Wars toys).
And then there were also all these wonderful cartoons and television series like Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, The Powers of Matthew Star, ...
I am sure every generation has its own movies and series, and toys and music, but man oh man it sure was amazing being ten years old in 1985.

Maybe part of the magic was that there was no Internet, and not everything was "one click away". You had to wait for things, wait for a television series to be aired, waiting weeks with high anticipation till you could visit the cinema, ...
Maybe one of the most magical inventions of the 80s was the VCR. I can still remember my father bringing a VCR from work in the weekend, and then we went to the videostore to rent movies for the weekend...

I became a father for the first time this week, and now I have this idea to collect all the movies I mentioned in this post on dvd, so one day when my son is old enough (between 6-10) I can watch those amazing movies with him, and I am sure I will enjoy seeing his reactions afterwards :).

If you have similar experiences of being a kid in the 80s feel free to share them here on this board.
Thanks for reading

[–] reppate 9 years ago

What a splendid post.

I was 10 in 1985 as well. I'd agree with everything you said. I've been missing the magic I felt at the cinema when I was younger. But, sadly they say you can't go home again.

I might add a few movies to the list. Some definitely to reserve until any young one is slightly older than 10.=)

Dark Crystal
Legend
Time Bandits
Breakfast Club
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Breakfast Club

I came to this board today because I came across this movie on cable. I couldn't turn it off! I remember it so fondly. 25 years later and I still love puzzles and riddles. =)

[–] Picnic10 9 years ago

Agreed. 1985 and 1986 in particular seemed to see a shift to some darkly Lewis Carrroll like material e.g Return to Oz, Labyrinth- plus The Black Cauldron. Disney animators such as Don Bluth and Tim Burton (Pee Wee's Big Adventure was in '85) were leaving. The relative lack of box office success may explain why lighter fare followed in children's movies of the late 80s/early 90s eg Honey I shrunk the kids whilst the subtle shades of grey in a wonderful adventure film like Young Sherlock Holmes , which showed profound love for its subject matter of English private education, were less seen until the hideously stereotypical, lower middle class, Potter books.

[–] Im_your_Papi 8 years ago

I'm your age as well, and yes, I do have beautiful memories of such movies mentioned here from back in the 80's. in fact, we are the generation that has had one foot towards the future above all the other previous generations. We were born right at the dawn of everything and among the first to use home computers, play the first and second gen video game systems, we had the first cell phones, VCR's, CD's, the beginnings of digital stuff, the initial development of the internet, the creation of 3D tech, Space Shuttles, In car stereos, the beginnings of CGI....just to name a few things that carry on til today. But we were also the last generation to actually have good tasting fast food, the last generation to have good music.

I mean, we were born right at the dawn of the modern world we know today. And I believe that the golden age of modernism beats out what we have today and what kids today take for granted. Movies, were frikkin wonderful in our day, having to wait out for everything patiently like civilized people. The toys back in our time too, were not only fun but resistant to most any damage and virtually unbreakable. About the only thing I like from today, it's probably the Internet and how it's become so easy to use and also easy to find any info that one wants and needs, though most people use it as a tool for free access porn, to troll other people, or to Keep up with the Kardashians.

[–] naughtyjimmy 8 years ago

I agree with everything you wrote.
I miss the 80s so much. I think it hasn't just to do with being a kid back then. Those were happier times, people were happier, friendlier, smarter,...
And culture was way better, I mean it was both smarter and more fun. I enjoy watching again TV series of the 80s such as Miami Vice and The Equalizer way more than the utter crap churned out by the entertainment industry nowadays.

I've just watched again Young Sherlock Holmes on TV: I for the life of me can't figure out why it was way overlooked then and still is now. It's true to the Sherlock Holmes universe, it has spectacular special effects (even by today's standards), a clever and captivating plot, witty dialog, brilliant acting (its actors deserved much more recognition), compelling music... You root for the characters from start to finish. It's both entertaining and smart as it succeeds in explaining the origin of Holmes' frame of mind (he's a lonely, cold and calculating guy because of the death of his true love).
It is a truly remarkable piece of entertainment on so many levels and hasn't aged a bit thirty years on. It even seems to get better as time goes by, when compared to today's fare.
A movie definitely on par with the Harry Potter franchise and wildly underrated. The 80s were a time when entertainment was both fun and not insulting audiences' intelligence.